Reese Havens, the 22nd overall pick in the 2008 draft, who was tormented by oblique issues last season that limited him to 32 games between Class A St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton, arrived at the complex Monday and revealed he underwent surgery eight weeks ago.

The procedure shaved an inch off a rib that was rubbing against another rib on his left side and also irritating the oblique. It was performed at Dr. James Andrews' clinic in Birmingham, Ala., by colleague Dr. William Clancy. Havens called the issue "rib tip syndrome."

Havens started hitting last week, and said: "I'm finally starting to feel like a baseball player again. ... I'm getting close. I'll be ready for spring training."

Havens, a gifted hitter when healthy, was moved from shortstop to second base last season, but that transition was slowed by the injuries. "It was going good," he said. "I felt like I learned a lot. I got to work with 'Teuf' [then-Binghamton manager Tim Teufel] on a daily basis."